TALLINN — Estonia has once again caught the attention of the technology world with a new robot called Fits.me that helps users choose clothing when shopping online.
The robotic mannequin, invented by professors at two Estonian universities, gave its company Massi Miliano the edge to win an international competition of innovative products or services of start-up IT companies in Silicon Valley, presenting the Fits.me solution, local media reported.
The robot works by letting users give it the measurements using the garment they select. The robot expands or contracts to match the size of the buyer and gives them an accurate picture of how the clothes would look.
Fits.me received the best feedback from the jury consisting of risk capital representatives as well as from the 250-strong audience, Enterprise Estonia representative in Silicon Valley Andrus Viirg said.
“Thanks to Massi Miliano, Estonia is becoming more known in the world’s technology capital as the country of ‘robots.’ Fits.me is taking over the baton from Skype as the best known Estonian technology company in Silicon Valley,” Viirg said in Äripäev.ee.
The robot was invented to harness the power of online clothing stores, which are becoming increasingly popular. The inability to try the clothes on and different measurements in foreign countries means that around 40 percent of all garments are sent back to the supplier.
“If from now on the customer can see a shirt or a coat worn by the robotic mannequin in his or her measurements, the return rate will certainly decline and people will be encouraged to buy clothes online more frequently and possibly also more expensive items,” Andrus Oks of the Estonian Development Agency said in a press release.
The idea to harness the robotic mannequin for the online fashion industry originated from Heikki Haldre, head of Massi Miliano and the founder of Netikuller.ee, an online store for Estonians.
The robot was developed by Alvo Aabloo, Professor of Polymer Materials Technology at the Institute of Technology at the University of Tartu, and Maarja Kruusmaa, Professor at the Centre for Biorobotics at the Tallinn University of Technology.
Users can see a demo in action — Estonian language only.
